Arsenal W.F.C. Academy

This article is about the Arsenal Women's Academy. For the men's team, see, see Arsenal F.C. Under-21s and Academy.

Arsenal W.F.C. Academy

Full name	Arsenal Women Football Club Academy
Nickname(s)	Hale End
Ground	Vauxhall Road
Capacity	3,152 (300 seated)
Academy Manager	Hannah Paterson
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Arsenal Women Football Club Academy (Arsenal W.F.C. Academy) is the youth academy of Arsenal Women Football Club. The academy operates for girls from 9 to 21 years old. ^{[1] [2]}

History

Arsenal Women's Academy started as a community programme in the late 1980's, when the club decided to develop a youth training scheme for 16- to 18-year-old girls who were interested in playing football. This scheme meant girls could play football full-time for two years, fully funded by a government training scheme. ^[3]

Arsenal's Head of Community, Freddie Hudson MBE, is still involved with the Academy setup and has helped to develop the pathway for girls in the North London communities into the current setup as it currently stands.

The academy has won three FA Girls Youth Cups in addition to other trophies lifted altogether. ^{[2] [4] [5]}

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Arsenal were one of 16 football clubs awarded a Category 1 Professional Game Academy License (PGAs). The PGAs replaced what were then known as FA WSL Academies. ^[6]

Ahead of the 2025-26 season, it was announced that PGA sides would be competing in the Women's National League Cup for the first time, after the addition of those sides in the Women's National League Plate competition during the 2024-25 season. Along with this, there was the introduction of a group stage for the Cup: ^[7] Arsenal were drawn in group K alongside Loughborough Lightning, Northampton Town and Rugby Borough. ^[8]

Players

Under-21s

As of 21 August 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 44 DF   ENG Sophie Harwood 46 DF   ENG Lois Hazell 47 DF   IRL Sophia Leonard 48 FW   ENG Phoebe De Bohan 49 DF   WAL Teagan Scarlett 50 FW   ENG Abi Conway 52 MF   ENG Gaby Dimmock 53 GK   ENG Amy Liddiard 56 FW   ENG Abigail Chipperfield 57 FW   ENG Freya Woods

No. Pos. Nation Player 58 GK   ENG Chiemela Ude 59 FW   ENG Anniyah Gordon 66 DF   ENG Saskia Heard 67 MF   ENG Bryony Brodie 68 MF   IRL Lauren Bowe 70 DF   ENG Isabella Cowley — DF   ENG Helen "Nelly" Duncan — FW   ENG Kyri Teer-Hutchins — FW   ENG Leyla O'Brien — FW   ENG Cairo Antoine-Eva

Dual registration loan

Dual registration loans allow young players to gain senior team experience at lower league clubs, usually Women's National League, whilst also being eligible for their Academy or even senior team games. ^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 43 DF   ENG Niamh Peacock(at Watford until 30 June 2026) 51 MF   ENG Marcie O'Meara(at Watford until 30 June 2026) 54 DF   ENG Eva Gray(at Watford until 30 June 2026) 63 GK   ENG Hope McSheffrey(at Hashtag United until 30 June 2026)

Management and Staff

Current staff:

As of 2 September 2025

Position	Name
Head of Player Development	James Honeyman
Academy Manager	Hannah Paterson
Under-21s Head Coach	John Hal Bitting
Under-16s Head Coach	John Wittingham
Academy Goalkeeping Lead	Tom Gallin

Notable players

This is a list of former Arsenal W.F.C. Academy players who have gone on to represent their country at full international level. Players who are still at Arsenal, or play at another club on loan from Arsenal, are highlighted in bold.

Updated 24 July 2025

• Lily Agg
• Michelle Agyemang
• Anita Asante
• Jade Bailey
• Paige Bailey-Gayle
• Vaila Barsley
• Lauren Bruton
• Laura Coombs
• Gemma Davison
• Araya Dennis
• Anna Filbey
• Gilly Flaherty
• Silvana Flores
• Angharad James
• Lauren James
• Cherelle Khassal
• Chloe Kelly
• Freya Godfrey
• Teyah Goldie
• Hayley Ladd
• Ruby Mace
• Katie Reid
• Taryn Rockall
• Vyan Sampson
• Lianne Sanderson
• Alex Scott
• Renée Slegers
• Drew Spence
• Rebecca Spencer
• Casey Stoney
• Naomi Williams
• Leah Williamson
• Sarah Wiltshire
• Ellen White
• Lotte Wubben-Moy

Honours

• FA Girls Youth Cup: 2015 & 2016 ^{[4] [5]}
• FA Girls League Cup: 2016 ^[4]
• Blue Stars/Fifa Youth Cup: 2024 ^[10]
• PGA Southern League: 2024 ^[11]
• PGA League Division One: 2024–25 ^[12]
• Capital Women's Senior Cup: 2024-25 ^[13]

References

1. "Arsenal Ladies Development Team". Arsenal.com.
2. "FA Regional Talent Club". Arsenal.com.
3. Wrack, Suzanne (16 June 2025). "'We took a big leap of faith': how a community project built Arsenal Women". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 17 June 2025.
4. "Academy sides win three trophies". Arsenal.com.
5. "Ladies win National Youth Cup - Pictures". Arsenal.com.
6. The Football Association, FA. "FA Professional Game Academy licenses awarded to twenty clubs as part of revamped player pathway". England Football. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
7. "FA Women's National League announces key dates and changes to promotion for 2025/26 season". womenscompetitions.thefa.com. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
8. FA, The Football Association (15 July 2025). "Fixtures".
9. "Full Guidance: Transfers and dual registrations". Grassroots Technology. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
10. "Salzburg and Arsenal Triumph | Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup 2024". FIFA. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
11. Arsenal Media (18 April 2024). "Arsenal Women's U21s win the PGA Southern League". Arsenal Women’s U21s win the PGA Southern League. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
12. "Arsenal Women U21s secure league title". Arsenal.com. 23 April 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
13. Ward, Kian (15 May 2025). "IN PHOTOS | Dulwich Hamlet vs Arsenal | Capital Women's Cup". Dulwich Hamlet Football Club. Retrieved 22 May 2025.